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Thame Local History
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Albury
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Albury lies to the west of Rycote Park. It is today effectively joined with
Tiddington. Travelling towards Oxford from Thame on the A418 today, when
we come to Tiddington there is a right hand turning towards Ickford and a left
hand turning that is built up for a short while but then comes to and end for
vehicles. The houses along the right hand turning are in Tiddington and those along the left hand turning are in Albury. This is modern Albury, but if we proceed on foot at the end of the road opposite the Ickford turning and travel along the path known as the Oxfordshire Way, towards Rycote, we go through a few ancient ridge and furrow fields, and then approach Albury Church. Just before the church there is evidence of an ancient settlement, now only discernible as bumps in the ground. Albury manor house is nearby, now a substantial private building. This is the centre of the ancient settlement of Albury that appears in the Domesday Book of 1086. At the time of Domesday the manor of Albury belonged to one Reginald, who held much land elsewhere. There were also eleven dwellings in Wallingford that belonged to the manor of Albury. In the year 1419, at the death of William Baldington, we hear of his father John Baldington, who had acquired the manor of Albury. The deceased William Baldington lived at Albury. John Baldington was a wealthy fourteenth century merchant and minor nobleman. He gave his name to the Baldington manor, a collection of properties and land which he was granted by the Bishop of Lincoln. |
Do you live in a village near Thame?
Old maps of Thame and the villages |